Quick Take: Niners improve to a perfect 4-0 with a 28:25 win @home
A Smith came in in relief an sealed the Niners 28-25 win over the Seahawks
The San Francisco 49ers continued their dominance of the NFC West with a hard-fought 28-25 comeback win at home over division rival Seattle Seahawks. While the unbeaten Niners improved to a perfect 4-0, the Hawks remain winless.
The win came at a high price though, as the Niners lost starting QB Shaun Hill with an elbow injury. Hill, who had another good day with three TD passes and one pick, went down late in the game and is expected to be out for 3 weeks. Second-stringer Alex Smith came in in relief and completed a 46yd-pass play to TE Vernon Davis that set up Joe Nedney's second field goal of the day. The 31-yarder that made it 28-18 with under four minutes to go proved to be enough as the Niners held off a late rally by the Hawks.
Seattle made it a three-point game with just over two minutes left on QB Matt Hasselbeck's second TD throw to Bobby Engram, Helped by a facemask penalty on a 4th-and-15, the Seahawks marched down 69 yards in a hurry. With all their three timeouts and the two-minute-warning left, Seashawks head coach Mike Holmgren decided to kick the ball deep. The Niners would not give up the ball again, though. Frank Gore took care of the football and with a couple of big runs, the Niners rumbled all the way down to the Seattle 14 before running out the clock with a couple of Alex Smith kneeldowns.
The Niners jumped out to an early 7-0 lead after Seattle fumbled the kickoff. Takeo Spikes recovered the ball after a crushing hit from Keith Lewis and a couple of plays later, Shaun Hill found Davis in the corner of the end zone. While Seattle managed only a pair of field goals, Hill drove the Niners 70 yards down the field, capping it with a 8yd TD pass to FB Michael Robinson to make it 14-6 with just over three minutes remaining in the half. But Seattle battled back and scored its first TD of the game when Hasselbeck beat the blitz connecting with FB Leonard Weaver in the flat, who rumbled 30 yds down the right sideline to make it 14-12. The Hawks failed on the two-point conversion but got the ball right back when Hill lost the ball on a sack. Hasselbeck did not waste the opportunity, cashing in with a 22yd-TD-pass to Engram. After a shanked extra-point kick, Seattle took an 18-14 lead into the intermission.
Early in the third, the Niners failed to take advantage of a Parys Haralson interception when Joe Nedney missed wide right on a 34-yd-FG.
He did better on his next attempt a few minutes later, though, splitting the uprights on a 50-yarder to get the Niners within a point. In the fourth quarter, San Fran's blitzing defense, which sacked Hasselbeck a total of six times, forced another interception and Hill tossed his second TD pass to Robinson. The Niners also converted the ensuing two-point try to reclaim the lead at 25-18. In relief of the injured Hill, Alex Smith led the Niners 46-yards down the field to set up Nedney's 31-yard field goal that turned out to be the game-winner.
